What to do about Intense Caffeine & Sugar Cravings?

I see here that most have cut out caffeine and sugar. I have noticed I am obsessively drinking coffee and soda. Prior to this withdrawal I drank a cup of coffee 1x a week on occasion. Since withdrawal I’ve been drinking 3-4 pots a day and several sodas. After reading some about withdrawal, I tried cutting back on the coffee and then my soda intake just doubled. Now I’m down to 1 pot a day and 8 sodas. I am thirsty all day long and have an unquenchable thirst.  I crave coffee and soda with intrusive obsessive thinking. I know this is not good for me. Additionally, I crave masses amounts of sugar.  Again, something I did in moderation prior to withdrawal, but these cravings are so out of control.

I have this with biscuits (cookies).

 

Constant intense looping obsessional craving that I can’t control.

 

It is so bad if I try to fight it I want to run into the road screaming or jump out of the window.

 

I want to eat all day every day.

 

I was using healthy natural gum with Xylitol in to help but have now become sensitive to Xylitol so can’t use it, same with sugar free sweets.

 

It is like I need something g in my mouth all the time but now there is nothing my CNS can tolerate.

 

Also I have altered taste and mouth feel and all meat, fish, vegetables feel repulsive in mouth and look terrifying to look at.

 

 

Ajusta, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself because of the biscuits. It's okay that you eat them. At least you are not eating something that is inedible. I've seen people eat really weird things. Some people even eat corn starch.

 

Not sure if you still want to taper off benzos or not but was wondering if you could afford NAD+ infusions. I was talking to another buddy recently who was able to CT off their remaining dosage of Valium. NAD+ seems to really work wonders for coming off benzos. I can't recommend going CT but if you were able to taper and get infusions every time you dropped the dosage maybe you can get off this stuff. I would start a go fund me page possibly.

I see here that most have cut out caffeine and sugar. I have noticed I am obsessively drinking coffee and soda. Prior to this withdrawal I drank a cup of coffee 1x a week on occasion. Since withdrawal I’ve been drinking 3-4 pots a day and several sodas. After reading some about withdrawal, I tried cutting back on the coffee and then my soda intake just doubled. Now I’m down to 1 pot a day and 8 sodas. I am thirsty all day long and have an unquenchable thirst.  I crave coffee and soda with intrusive obsessive thinking. I know this is not good for me. Additionally, I crave masses amounts of sugar.  Again, something I did in moderation prior to withdrawal, but these cravings are so out of control.

 

 

Hi Iwant2breakfree,

 

Habits are much easier to form and break with small, realistic goals. Have you tried tapering off of caffeine and sugar? I cut way back on both while I was in acute withdrawal, though I never fully eliminated them. Now that I am feeling better I am able to tolerate them better. Moderation takes practice and discipline, but I found it much easier once I stopped the cycle of giving myself ultimatums only to beat myself up. Try giving yourself a few weeks to reduce or eliminate your intake.

 

Good luck,

Gwinna

I find (being almost 6 years out) that my penchant for sweets has been out of control. Not only that, I really shouldn't drink coffee because it creates adrenaline, which I still have a problem with. Earlier I did all the right things. I ate well all the time, had well-controlled urges (scheduled a day once a month for a cookie and coffee).

 

But I find that I get deeply depressed easily. Part of the problem is that I'm on a large dose of beta blockers. I was reading a review on them from someone who was out of control with sweets. I'm wondering if it causes that.

 

I've tried throwing away the coffee beans, but I always end up buying them again. I've thrown out sweets, only to buy them again. I live in a city, so there are numerous cafes and numerous cookie places.

 

I don't know what to tell you, but I do understand. I think part of the reason I've been so overboard is that I want something exciting in my life. There are no endorphins in this mess, and coffee and sweets make me kind of excited about life again. Sometimes it's the only reason why I want to get out of bed in the mornings. And for awhile, I'm satisfied having sweets and coffee (only 1 cup, though, because of the adrenaline). Then the craving starts all over again the next day. In fact, just before reading this I was having ice cream. Before that, I was eating sugar and cinnamon.

 

I don't know what the answer is, really. I have been going through an especially hard time, so I think that having something to ease the blow is okay. However, I'm very mindful of what the sugar and coffee are doing to my body. I have to have some lab tests done soon, and that is the only thing that can keep me on the right path. As soon as they're over with, I'll go back to the sugar. 

From your signature, I can see you CT'd a lot of meds. This could be contributing to your sweet cravings.

 

I know that every time I rushed through my Valium taper, I would have mad chocolate honeycomb cravings and pack on weight. Now, I can't stand the stuff.

 

My advice is to eat/drink a strict organic or high protein diet. Change over to greens/keto and cut out all table salts/MSG. Kale juice is great, same with almond milk. If you can exercise do so, but do it slowly and at a very slow pace. Walking is good. It will be tough, but worth it.

 

Dave. 

I see here that most have cut out caffeine and sugar. I have noticed I am obsessively drinking coffee and soda. Prior to this withdrawal I drank a cup of coffee 1x a week on occasion. Since withdrawal I’ve been drinking 3-4 pots a day and several sodas. After reading some about withdrawal, I tried cutting back on the coffee and then my soda intake just doubled. Now I’m down to 1 pot a day and 8 sodas. I am thirsty all day long and have an unquenchable thirst.  I crave coffee and soda with intrusive obsessive thinking. I know this is not good for me. Additionally, I crave masses amounts of sugar.  Again, something I did in moderation prior to withdrawal, but these cravings are so out of control.

I hear ya. I once was a sugarholic too. I have never been a coffee drinker but I love the smell of coffee....weird I know. I cut out sodas about 5 or 6 years ago. It was hard but I kicked drinking 1-2 liters of that stuff daily which is not good for you at all. I now drink mostly plain water, but I will have a 12 oz can of soda now maybe once or twice a month as a treat. I also quit eating a lot of candy and substituted fruit instead to satisfy my sweet tooth. I eat at least two cantaloupes per week....

Ajusta, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself because of the biscuits. It's okay that you eat them. At least you are not eating something that is inedible. I've seen people eat really weird things. Some people even eat corn starch.

 

Not sure if you still want to taper off benzos or not but was wondering if you could afford NAD+ infusions. I was talking to another buddy recently who was able to CT off their remaining dosage of Valium. NAD+ seems to really work wonders for coming off benzos. I can't recommend going CT but if you were able to taper and get infusions every time you dropped the dosage maybe you can get off this stuff. I would start a go fund me page possibly.

 

 

My hand has stuffed inedible things in my mouth. It is horrific. My brain gets confused and thinks shampoo is edible, watching someone paint on TV my brain thought the paint was edible and that it would get into my mouth from TV. These tho gs create terror and repulsion.

 

When I eat biscuits I am not there. Just watching g my hand out them in my mouth in horror.

 

My brain has even thought my own shit is food and the thought creates incredible cnfusion and horror.

 

It is literally like having frontal lobe dementia where ppl stuff  bowls of sugar in their mouth.

 

 

Can’t get to London or afford NAD also would have to get rid of mercury fillings to prevent chelation first and don’t have £5000 for that either.

 

The main thing preventing me getting off is s ere muscle cramps btraxture crushing my spine which was why I was on them in first place.

Wow, Adjusta. Didn't realize you have mercury fillings to. It would be great if you can find a way to pay for all these treatments. Honestly, if I was a multi millionaire I would fund it for both of us. Stem cell therapy in Panama too...why not. Too bad someone isn't reading this right now who could help pay for everything and is willing to. It's not easy for people who have been harmed by meds to pay for cutting edge treatments for brain and spinal cord issues and addictions. Every time I read your stuff Adjusta I can imagine how you must think and feel and it scares the shit out of me. I think you're a beast and strong af for making it as far as you have. The mind can play tricks when going through wd and from side effects of benzos. You struggle to conceptualize anything and your own thoughts hold you hostage. You obviously still know that shampoo is not edible otherwise you would not be horrified by the thought. Again, don't worry about the biscuits. Maybe if you or someone made the biscuits from scratch using high end ingredients you wouldn't feel as bad about it. I know you have no control over it, so don't let it consume you anymore.

Thanks!

 

My problem is I wasn’t harmed by the drugs. They were the right thing for my spinal and muscle stuff and I was fine on the same low dose for almost 20 years.

 

My problem is I tried to stop them and am now unable to take anything for severe muscle contracture tire that is literally damage my spine further - it was bad enough on the diazepam, without it it is unbearable.

 

Keto Diet took mine away.

Tried keto for 5 days and was shitting fat. My body hates high fat diet, always has.

I am grateful for all the responses, thoughts and suggestions. I keep attempting to respond to each of you, but I have terrible executive function right now with cognitive difficulties due to the withdrawal. So I’ll post a generic response. I tried cutting out caffeine completely - I’ve always been an all or nothing person, part of the reason for my cold turkey. However, cutting out that much caffeine sent me into the worst headache, head pressure and cog fog I have had so far! (You think I would have learned my lesson when I cold turkeyed my psychiatric cocktail-but I know better now!) I how however, have cut down tremendously. I have a long history of diet soda addiction, so I changed to caffeine free for now and am reducing my intake. I am now down to 1 pot of coffee in the am. I am going to keep gradually reducing until I am caffeine free. I have also drastically reduced my sugar intake.

 

I have so many physical and cognitive symptoms that it has been difficult for me to tell what exact symptoms the sugar and caffeine are exacerbating. Would you mind sharing with me what particular symptoms are increased with your sugar and caffeine intake and what got better when you cut it out?

 

Thank you!!

 

I have not noticed any problems from eating sugar. In fact it seems to help.

 

I think my brain wants it because of excess glutamate.

 

If ppl have excitotoxicity the treatment is IV glucose or oral fructose.

I get kind of angry the more sugar I eat. I'm really working on a plan to not eat so much. I want to focus on vegetables again. I was never like this before, but I'm terribly depressed. Coffee and sugar, as I think I said, are the only things that have gotten me out of bed at times.

 

However, the coffee doesn't help me now. I used to get wired, and I liked that feeling. Now I fall asleep. If I drink too much, I get an LSD-type feeling in my head which is very uncomfortable. The only way I seem to be able to quit coffee is to change to Diet Coke for a couple of days. Otherwise I'd have to taper the coffee, and it would be too much of a temptation because I still associate it with a "fun time." The Diet Coke isn't good for me, either, but just doing it for 2 days won't break the bank.